MediScare ad war heats up in Gibson-Schreibman race

You probably saw them on the tube over the weekend: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Karl Rove’s Crossroads Global Policy Strategies are out with ads debating which candidate in New York’s 19th Congressional District, Republican Rep. Chris Gibson or Democratic challenger Julian Schreibman, represents the greater threat to Medicare.

The GPS ad, which “is supported by a $461,000 total buy,” cites the cuts in the Affordable Care Act (which Schreibman supports but wasn’t in a position to vote for), while leaving out the nuance that the cuts come largely from reimbursements to hospitals and insurers, and is used to pay for the health care expansion. It also raises the specter of “15 unelected bureaucrats” controlling the nation’s health care decisions.

The DCCC ad knocks Gibson for his 2011 vote in favor of Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan, which includes virtually the exact same cuts but puts them toward deficit reduction. The ad neglects to mention that Gibson voted against Ryan’s fiscal plan earlier this year in favor of a bipartisan compromise budget that hews closer to the recommendations of the Simpson-Bowles commission.

Here’s the DCCC’s pro-Schreibman/anti-Gibson ad:

And here’s Crossroads’ anti-Schreibman ad, which makes no mention of Gibson: